2018 elections

The lack of interest in the forthcoming presidential elections in Cyprus is noteworthy. Contrary to previous elections, I don’t see people passionate about any of the three candidates (perfectly understandable) and I don’t hear heated political arguments for or against either of them. I reckon the abstention rate will be high. This, of course, is not to say that Cyprus is in any way special. After all, voters are disenchanted with formal politics everywhere and in particular where there are high levels of nepotism fueling distrust towards the political system as a whole. As a result, people who generally want little to do with formal politics often engage in alternative political action or end up supporting unorthodox (read: populist or radical) candidates. Others are just...